Theocracy - Theocracy (CD)

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The self-titled debut album from Theocracy has been out of print for several years, and fans have constantly asked for a re-issue. In order to improve upon the drum machine and amateur production of the original release without losing the charm of the recordings, Theocracy drummer Shawn Benson recorded drums on all tracks, while nothing else was re-recorded. Matt completely re-mixed the album, with the mastering handled by Mika Jussila.

For those not familiar with the self-titled debut release, band founder Matt Smith composed all of the songs and performed all of the instruments (sans acoustic drums). Despite this deficiency the album was so well received that it became an instant classic and quickly went out of print. Fast forward to 2013, Theocracy has grown from 1 member to 5, released many stellar albums and the demand for a reissue/rerecording of the debut became a reality. As Smith points out in the updated liner notes the only thing new is a re mastering of the original recording with Shawn Benson’s acoustic drums replacing the programmed drum sounds. These songs were already extremely good but now sound all that much more credible and powerful with a real timekeeper at the helm. Benson’s style is well suited to the majority of this speedy power metal. And while he has clearly expanded upon the basic drum tracking, he has done so in a manner as to not disrupt the original flow of the music. Reissues rarely add much to the original – especially when the original was near perfect – but in this case these songs can now be heard the way they were originally meant to be recorded, transforming a classic of epic Christ-centric power metal into a masterpiece.